Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan taste ice-cream as they visit the MAKS 2019 air show in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, August 27, 2019.
Turkey claimed that it considers illegitimate the elections to the Russian State Duma held on the territory of Crimea. The official statement was made by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 20, despite the mutual friendly rhetoric of Presidents Putin and Erdogan.
“Turkey continues to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine and considers the annexation of Crimea illegal. Against this background, the State Duma elections held on September 17-19, 2021 in Crimea have no legal force for Turkey, ” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The elections to the State Duma were held all around Russia, including Crimea, on September 17, 18 and 19. Simultaneously, there were direct elections of the heads of nine entities of the Russian Federation and 39 regional parliaments.
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the issue, glorifying his colleague from Ankara:
“He is a man who keeps his word. He “doesn’t wag his tail”. If he believes that it is beneficial for his country, he always comes through,” Vladimir Putin said.
In his turn, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has often claimed his Russian counterpart his “dear fellow”.
However, the “warm friendship” between the two leaders is not sufficient to solve the mutually exclusive interests of their countries.
Turkey’s policy towards Crimea, the categorical non-recognition of its status ad hoc, is not aimed at supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but aims the independence of Crimea if destructive processes within the Russian Federation occur.
Turkish strategists likely hope to use a possible instability in Russia to turn Crimea into a Turkish vassal state, as it was the case before the Russian Empire imposed its control over Crimea in 1783. The model of satellite territories has been implemented by Turkey since the ancient times, and is still actively used, for example, in Northern Cyprus.
